Eagles Men Earn Ninth Place Finish

(Posted October 1, 2005)

Justin Fritzius was the top finisher for the Juniata men in the 4K race as the Eagles placed ninth out of 20 teams at the Dickinson Invitational.

Carlisle, Pa. ? Taking on many of the top teams in the Mid-East Region, the Juniata College men?s and women?s cross country teams showed they certainly can compete against the best as the Juniata women placed fifth among the 24-team field and the men placed ninth among 20 teams. The unusual race format had the women run both a 4K and a 6K with the team score taking the top-three finishers for each team in each race. The men?s scoring was handled the same way, but with the men running a 4K and an 8K.

MEN?S

The Eagles men saw Justin Fritzius (Central York/York) lead the team in the 4K. The Juniata senior posted a time of 13:17 to capture a 44th-place finish in the race. Juniata then had two runners come in just inside the top-60 as Shawn Rumery (Thornton Academy/Dayton, Me.) and Tripp Rudolph (Upper St. Clair/Pittsburgh) placed 57th and 59th respectively. Rumery ran a time of 13:31 for the 4K distance, while Rudolph was right behind him at 13:32. At the 8K distance it was Chris Sheaffer (Central York/York) running the top time as he covered the course in 20:20 which was good for a 21st-place finish. Mike Chirdon (Riverview/Verona) was the second runner for the Juniata men at the longer distance as he placed 68th. His time was 28:37. Mike Vella (Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg) capped the top-3 with his 82n-place finish which came as he ran a time of 28:52.

WOMEN?S

The Juniata women got the team off to a strong start in the 4K. Nancy Hayes (Westminster/Westminster, Md.) earned a 10th-place finish in the race with a time of 15:43. Meghan Jones (Meadville/Meadville) was Juniata?s second runner at the shorter distance as she finished 26th with a time of 16:12. Rounding out the top-3 at the 4K distance was Aubrey Cyphert (Seneca/North East) who was the 50th runner in the race. She posted a time of 16:49. In the 6K Katey Glunt (Bellefonte/Bellefonte) notched the top finish for the Juniata women as she posted a time of 23:43 which was good for a 17th-place finish in the longer race. Lia Bella (Morris Catholic/Rockaway, N.J.) crossed the line in 50th position with a time of 25:08 for the Eagles. Rounding out the scoring for the Blue and Gold was Sarah Bay (Central Dauphin/Harrisburg) who earned a 90th-place finish as she covered the course in a time of 25:57. Nearly every Juniata runner who ran the 8K race posted a new personal best time.

The Eagles return to action with an invitational next Saturday at Carnegie Mellon.